


Practice Makes Perfect

by the_flail_snail



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Dimension 20: Fantasy High
Genre: Accidental Stimulation, Awkward Kissing, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-01-23 00:11:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21310915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_flail_snail/pseuds/the_flail_snail
Summary: Riz privately wonders what skill check kissing falls under (Persuasion? Acrobatics? Animal handling?), and how many more times Fabian will pull him onto his lap or back him into a wall before Riz will gain proficiency.
Relationships: Riz Gukgak/Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Comments: 63
Kudos: 577





	1. In which Riz rationalizes making out with his best friend

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i only need you to be friends with me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056406) by [sajere1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sajere1/pseuds/sajere1). 

> This fic was inspired by a writing warm-up by sajere1 (@riz-gukgak on Tumblr) that I just couldn't stop thinking about, so I highly recommend you read their work first! 
> 
> "fabian and riz hang out, but they aren’t allowed to tell anyone about it, and fabian is a perfect kisser, and it’s not gay if you say it’s for practice, right?" (https://riz-gukgak.tumblr.com/post/188748151565/fabianriz-writing-warm-up-pre-fh-season-2) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056406)
> 
> I have the same premise here - Fabian and Riz "practice" kissing - with more awkward aftermath. Takes place Sophomore year, pre-season 2.

Fabian is always the one who suggests another practice session. After all, the Bloodrush team practices together most days, and kissing is an even more important skill for a young adventurer. Riz privately wonders what skill check kissing falls under (Persuasion? Acrobatics? Animal handling?), and how many more times Fabian will pull him onto his lap or back him into a wall before Riz will gain proficiency. Fabian was clearly already proficient, but it is generous of him to help Riz out. “For Baron,” as Fabian is always quick to say. 

Riz can’t lift Fabian onto the bed or hold him in the air, but at least he can offer his investigative skills. Keep their practice methodical, scientific. He starts keeping mental lists, filed alongside his other ongoing investigations, of different ways he’d seen or imagined people kissing. Quick, affectionate pecks; slow, sleepy kisses; reaching up or standing on a step to kiss someone so much taller. 

The next time Fabian casually stares up at the ceiling of his ridiculously extravagant bedroom, clears his throat, and starts the customary “So, The Ball...,” Riz is ready. “The last few times we tried this you had your hands at my waist and mine were touching your - in your - at your head. Let’s try - We could try the other way around, to practice a different type of position?” 

Fabian nods seriously, still facing the ceiling, presumably a tactful way to pretend he doesn’t see Riz’s stupid, blushing face. “So I, ah, put my hands at your head, and you - am I on top of you in this practice position? Because I could crush you, easily!” 

Fabian finally looks at Riz, quirking the side of his mouth up as he gestures at Riz’s body. Riz can’t help laughing at the way Fabian can manage to look boastful even when he’s being concerned. 

“I’m serious, The Ball, I could accidentally grapple you by glancing your direction! You would be encumbered if I sneezed on you! I mean, what is your strength? 6?” Fabian proves his point by flopping hard onto his side of the bed, pulling a still laughing Riz towards him with his weight. 

“You won’t crush me. I trust you,” Riz says, once he can catch his breath. Fabian goes still and glances over at Riz as he speaks, making it easier to clamber on top of him. It feels simple like this, when they’re already in a pile of limbs at the end of the bed. Much harder when Riz has to move across the room to touch Fabian. Riz steadies himself, carefully placing his hands on the mattress on either side of Fabian’s head, and clarifies, “You don’t need to be on top of me if you’re going to be so dramatic about it. Just - just put your hands in my hair.”

After half a second Fabian does, sliding one hand along Riz’s jaw and up alongside one pointed ear and then the other up the back of Riz’s neck and into his hair. Riz expected Fabian to pull him down into a kiss immediately, but Fabian pauses, just looking up at Riz in a way that’s too considerate, too gentle for what they’re doing here. (Just practicing - for Aelwen, Riz reminds himself. He checks the urge to sigh and nuzzle into Fabian’s neck.) Then Fabian is sitting up and pulling Riz to him. It’s awkward at first. Riz doesn’t expect Fabian to sit up and falls backward. Fabian’s attempt to catch him briefly bumps Riz’s mouth against Fabian’s good eye, and Fabian pulls a little at Riz hair as he readjusts, and, oh, um, Riz might be ok with that.

Fabian’s mouth, his breath (not kippers for once), his tongue are all familiar now, but Riz still shivers at the contact. He’s careful with his sharp goblin teeth, until he isn’t, and Riz would pull back to apologize but Fabian’s hands are still tangled in his hair, holding him close. Riz knows that he should keep a part of himself separate, watching his own reactions, making sure he doesn’t say and do anything - anything weird, anything more. Its so easy to take this too far, to push at Fabian’s body and his own feelings until this bubble of half-truths collapses. He’s always been so good at keeping things organized, filing them away for later. Even when he was trapped in a palimpsest and running out of leads, Riz could still smile and say everything was fine. (Don’t think about the palimpsest, just focus on the next step, there’s always another mystery.)

Now, though, as Fabian pushes him down onto the bed and leans over him, Riz can’t keep everything separated. The Riz kissing Fabian bleeds together with the Riz who stays awake until dawn solving other people’s problems, who hurts the people who hurt his friends, who cares too much in a dangerous world. He lets go of everything except the feeling of a mouth on his mouth, hands clutching his face, and a long, lean body settling across his chest and between his legs. Riz dimly hears Fabian say, “What? The Ball, are you...?” before he’s gasping and grinding into a resolution that he was not - he must not -

Riz can tell there is some emotion—Shame? Joy? Horror?—waiting for him in a few minutes, but right now he’s just...drifting. Warm, sleepy, slightly sticky, and surrounded by Fabian’s body, which is - still moving? Riz half-opens his eyes to see Fabian kneeling over him, one hand still grasping Riz’s hair in a way that keeps Riz pinned to the bed while the other hand reaches down to - well, Riz thinks fuzzily that it’s fair if Fabian also gets off, since Riz already did. “You didn’t crush me,” he mumbles, and Fabian looks up, startled, from where he’d been staring at Riz’s body—rumpled shirt pushed up away from damp trousers. He wonders if he could look down and see Fabian’s dick right now, if that would be crossing a line (another line), but Fabian is kissing him again, saying something that doesn’t sound like The Ball but couldn’t be Riz’s actual name. Riz can’t see anything beyond Fabian’s face and arm, but he can feel when Fabian comes on Riz’s shirt and stomach before rolling over and collapsing next to him on the bed.

As he slowly returns to his senses, Riz decides he will call this new emotion “Shorror,” since it certainly doesn’t feel like joy. He knows it’s only a matter of time before the awkwardness creeps back into the room, so Riz does what any sensible rogue would do: He rolls off the bed and hides before Fabian can... laugh at him? pity him? Even a fantasy Fabian who smiles and holds him until he stops shaking is too much for Riz to handle right now. Sneaking out the door before Fabian can react, Riz touches his shirt and wonders if he’s ruined his best friendship.


	2. In which Fabian fails many of his insight rolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fabian knows that he is excellent at kissing. How could he not be? He is the son of a notoriously sexual pirate and a woman whom Fig keeps reminding him is very hot (ew, no, Fig, please). Still, looking down at Riz’s flushed face as he grinds against Fabian’s leg, Fabian wonders if he might have underestimated just how powerful his kisses could be.

Fabian knows that he is excellent at kissing. How could he not be? He is the son of a notoriously sexual pirate and a woman whom Fig keeps reminding him is very hot (ew, no, Fig, please). Still, looking down at Riz’s flushed face as he grinds against Fabian’s leg, Fabian wonders if he might have underestimated just how powerful his kisses could be.

Fabian had been thinking of Aelwen, of course. He can’t help fidgeting and shivering whenever he even thinks about kissing Riz—how much better will it be when its the real thing? 

Keeping Aelwen in his thoughts while touching Riz takes effort, but Fabian is always up for a challenge. This could be Aelwen’s short, unruly hair in his hands. Aelwen’s sharp teeth and claws. Fabian loves how Aelwen feels next to him, small and sharp and perfect. Aelwen’s... penis? Well, Fabian supposes Aelwen could have a penis—he doesn’t know her that well yet. 

He’s surprised by Riz’s erection, and then surprised by how un-phased he is to feel it brushing against his thigh. Fabian remembers stories of how Bill Seacaster seduced heroes and monsters and the Northeastern wind, and wonders if he might be similarly... flexible? This could be another kind of practice, testing out more things about himself on the way to becoming the perfect pirate.

But, Fabian hesitates. Riz said he trusts Fabian. Now that Fabian has driven Riz out of his mind with his excellent kissing technique (And isn’t that a thought - Riz, getting out of his own head for once and just reacting), it’s Fabian’s responsibility to - to help him out. As a friend. As Riz’s best friend, not that he’ll say that out loud. He needs to be there for Riz, not playing mind games with himself. 

So, as Riz wraps his legs around Fabian and pushes up, hands grasping under Fabian’s jacket and moving along his spine, Fabian moves down to meet him. It’s easier this way, when he doesn’t have to keep a flimsy fantasy running in his head in tandem with his actions. Fabian can focus on who’s actually in front of him. Even after Riz shudders and comes, Fabian keeps going, just a little longer, a confusion of words tumbling out of his mouth—“good,” “hot,” “Riz,” “mine”—until he also finds his release.

Fabian blames his missing eye for the fact that he didn’t see Riz begin to move away. It isn’t until Fabian hears a thump from his blind side that he realizes Riz isn’t going to snuggle up to him in the afterglow, but it’s too late to spot Riz if he’s decided to be stealthy. Still, Fabian lurches out of bed and to the door—it’s not like Riz hasn’t rolled poorly on a skill check before.

“Ah, Cathilda!” Fabian shouts down the front stairs, pulling up his pants. “Have you seen The Ball come through here?”

“Oh yes, Master Fabian. He stumbled through here a few moments ago, smelling his shirt, for some odd reason. He must have thought he was sneaking—I didn’t want to intrude.”

“And you didn’t try to grapple him?” Fabian asks, exasperated. Really, this was precisely why he should have kept the Manor stocked with barrels full of pirates. 

“Hangman, I need your help!”

“Sire!” The Hangman rumbles in his mind. “Please give me a worthy task on this night. Gilear is snoring in the garage, and the sounds of his snorting and whimpering are worse torture than any from the nine hells.”

Fabian is prepared to ride off into the night on a... rescue mission? A rescue mission for Riz, who needs to be brought safely back to the large, warm bed. But Bill Seacaster drilled him in strategy as well as bravery, so he pauses to get more intel from his maid before rushing off.

“Cathilda, when you saw The Ball go past, did he - where did he - how did he look?”

“Well,” Cathilda pauses, and says gently, “I can’t in good faith say that he was crying, he wasn’t not crying, if you see what I mean.”

Fabian still wants to rush off into the night, but the image of a crying Riz refusing to get on the Hangman gnaws at him. Fabian wants a rescue, not a fight. Especially not a public fight, with Riz looking quietly miserable and Fabian still not sure what he wants to say.

“Change of plans, Hangman. I will stay here and strategize, while you drive out, find The Ball, and just - follow him from a distance, make sure he arrives home safely.”

“Sire, may I rev my infernal engine next to Gilear’s pillow before I go?”

“Certainly, Hangman, I expect nothing less.”

Back upstairs, Fabian discovers that he can’t bring himself to sit on the bed yet, so he paces around his room, trying to piece together why Riz is upset. Riz obviously enjoyed himself, or, he seemed to at the time. 

Fabian worries suddenly that he took advantage, treating Riz like a crew-member instead of a party-member or a partner. He wanted to be careful with Riz, in the privacy of their practice time. Fabian knows that he can be too much sometimes. He is struck by a sudden chilling image of a kimono-clad Riz retreating to a sensory deprivation egg to escape from Fabian’s noisy affection. But that’s ridiculous! Riz would never wear a kimono! He would obviously look great in one, but Fabian can’t imagine getting Riz to part with his vest and tie and hat. Maybe he could offer to replace Riz’s shirt? Maybe also his pants. Fabian grins at the memory. He clearly bears some responsibility there. 

But, Fabian remembers abruptly, Riz isn’t his to annoy or spoil or care for. He recalls choking out “mine” in the heat of the moment; that doesn’t change the fact that Riz is already seeing someone. Fabian tries to imagine what this “Baron” must look like, but he has only a shadowy impression from Riz. He’s probably an asshole, with - with bad hair. Fabian frowns. Riz shouldn’t date someone with bad hair, even if he is a nerd. Riz deserves the best.

Fabian was so eager to rush into practicing kissing with Riz that he worries he didn’t consider what Riz wants. It’s one thing to practice for Aelwen—she would obviously love to date Fabian in the future, but they aren’t together right now. It’s another to put Riz in a situation where he must feel like he’s cheated on his partner. No wonder Riz was upset. Fabian feels like he’s stolen something precious - a first experience that Riz clearly wanted to have with someone he lov- likes. Not awkwardly and accidentally, in a fumbling practice with his best friend.

Fabian paces for a long time composing the right message to type out on his crystal. He’s going to clear all this up, and then maybe - hopefully - everything will go back to normal. Fabian wants it to be a normal where Riz will still climb on top of him and boss him around, but he can’t risk hurting Riz again. It’s past midnight before Fabian is satisfied with his message:

“The Ball! I know you must be upset. I can assure you that nothing’s changed. I promise we can keep this secret. No one needs to know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read, commented, and kudos-ed chapter 1!
> 
> I figure this version of Fabian might have an easier time coming to terms with his sexuality but a much harder time accepting the fact that he wants to date a total nerd.


	3. In which Riz discovers it’s easier to come out without making eye contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s almost dawn when Sklonda Gukgak returns home, and Riz has turned himself into a bundle of blankets and coffee cups on the couch. “Hi mom,” says the Riz-shaped lump. “I think I’m gay.”

Riz is more than ready to get out of his sticky trousers and underwear after an uncomfortable walk home. He could hear the Hangman following behind him most of the way. He’s not sure whether to be irritated or touched that Fabian sent the bike after him. Irritated, he thinks, but glad Fabian didn’t follow himself.

Riz takes off his shirt and moves to add it to the laundry pile before groaning to himself and stashing it in one of his many hiding spots. 

“It’s not a clue, you don’t need to preserve it,” Riz snarls to himself, but he’s beginning to suspect it is a clue to some larger mystery, one that Riz has been refusing to investigate. So, Riz will do what he does best—putting together the clues. Connecting pieces of himself with red string until they make sense. He clears off his board and starts a fresh case file:

Clue #1 He’d rather keep one of his few shirts as a monument to Fabian than have it as a useful object.

Clue #2 He burst into tears when Gilear, dressed up as Fabian, called him his best friend.

Clue #3 He invented a “romance partner” as soon as Fabian started talking about rescuing Aelwen.

Clue #4 He leans toward Fabian during every conversation, and moves to his side in every fight.

Clue #5 He keeps a careful catalogue of how much of Fabian’s body he allows himself to look at: He can look at Fabian’s gestures, but not his arms, his smile, but not his mouth. 

(Of course, kissing practice has thrown all of Riz’s careful calculations into chaos.)

Clue #6 He forgets how to breathe when Fabian brushes against his bare skin. 

(His wrist, his neck, a small strip of stomach earlier tonight.)

Each new clue Riz pins on the board leads to the same solution. It’s not entirely a surprise, but it takes several tries before Riz can say the words in his head, and even longer before he can say them out loud.

It’s almost dawn when Sklonda Gukgak returns home, and Riz has turned himself into a bundle of blankets and coffee cups on the couch. “Hi mom,” says the Riz-shaped lump. “I think I’m gay.”

Sklonda redirects her half-asleep trudge towards her bedroom to the couch, tucking the Riz-lump into her arms. 

“First off, I love you, and nothing is ever going to change that. I’m so glad you want to share things like this with me.”

“Second,” cracking an enormous yawn, “do you have any coffee left? I feel like I should be more awake for this conversation.”

Riz laughs, feeling relieved despite all his predictions that this would go well. His mom is a bad-ass. Of course she’s cool with this. She’s cool with everything. It still eases something in his chest to hear her matter-of-fact acceptance spoken out loud. 

He searches around for a partly full mug, and after a momentary grimace (they’ve both drunk worse) she gulps down the cold dregs and resettles against Riz’s pile. Now they’re both part of the couch lump, Riz sleepily thinks to himself. A Riz-Sklonda-coffee-lump of bad-ass goblins. 

Sklonda is a good enough investigator to ask all the right questions, but she lets Riz take the lead on deciding what information to share and what to hold back. He still tells her almost everything, aside from a few of the most embarrassing details. (“I came in my pants, mom!” seems like it would have set a weird tone for this conversation.)

“What do you want to do now?” Sklonda finally asks. 

Riz looks over at his crystal. He’d read Fabian’s message hours ago. Then he’d read the seven follow up messages, each increasingly rambling and... desperate? But Fabian is never desperate. One complemented Riz on his stealth, another included a rambling story about Bill Seacaster charming the wind, while the last message simply said “The Ball! I owe you some new clothes, ha-Ha!” 

Riz supposes that’s true, but thinking about trying on clothes, and taking off clothes, and Fabian watching, is quickly becoming #7 on his mental clue board. He just can’t take the time to figure out Fabian’s confusing messages until he knows what he wants for himself.

“I don’t want to keep secrets from you, mom, or from my friends. But I don’t want to tell everyone everything, or all at once,” Riz finally says. “I’m worried if I tell people they’ll immediately know that I - they’ll make assumptions about - how I feel about Fabian. I don’t want to make this weird.” 

“Oh kiddo, it’s already weird. You made a clue board for your feelings,” Sklonda smiles, nodding to the corner of the room. “Just know that I’m your back-up, any time you need me.”

Riz ducks his head and grins. His mom might tease but she knows she raised a dedicated (licensed!) detective. He just needs to investigate more, before sharing this with anyone else, to make sure he’s presenting his case in the right way, at the right time. Some carefully worded, insightfully timed comment.

“I’m gay!” Riz blurts out, barely a week later.

“Right on, dude!” Jawbone says from the hallway he’s passing through, saluting with his mug as Riz buries his burning face in his hands.

Fabian isn’t here—Riz has been avoiding him—and Gorgug is with Zelda, but the rest of the Bad Kids are sitting around Adaine’s room in Strongtower Luxury Apartments, inventing new names for Fig and Gorgug’s band.

Kristen lets out a delighted whoop at Riz’s mistimed outburst and starts chatting about the school GSA. Fig winks at Riz for inspiration and jokingly offers to set him up with someone from the hospital. At least, Riz hopes that Fig is joking. Adaine quietly conjures a small pride-colored pin shaped like a magnifying glass from her jacket of useful things and sets it next to Riz.

Riz smiles through his fingers as the conversation turns from pride merch to band merch and back to band names. Someone (Kristen?) is rubbing his back, and he starts to relax. Riz is still not sure if he can face Fabian, but he has a better grasp of how he feels about himself, and he knows that he has friends and family who will support him. It’s not everything he wanted, but it’s enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I choose to believe that Riz blurts out important personal secrets just like Kugrash.


	4. In which Fabian makes a series of grand gestures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Fabian needs is the perfect swashbuckling entrance to catch Riz’s attention. Then Riz can take over the talking and explain himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I continue to be really blown away by all of the supportive comments and kudos on my goofy accidental boners and feelings fic!

Fabian doesn’t know how to express himself except through action—a daring rescue, a flip off the Hangman, a very impressive leap onto a lunch table. Clearly Fabian’s words are coming out wrong. Riz has yet to respond to any of his messages. No, what Fabian needs is the perfect swashbuckling entrance to catch Riz’s attention. Then Riz can take over the talking and explain himself.

Unfortunately, Riz has developed a troubling tendency to slip away as soon as Fabian enters a room. Fabian is used to not interacting with Riz as much at school, where he has to keep up his reputation as one of the cool kids. Riz is the one who tells everyone they’re best friends. Fabian scoffs and looks cool and gazes at Riz from the corner of his eye when no one’s watching. He’s not used to this new dynamic, where Riz is the one pulling back from him.

Eventually, Fabian tries to recruit an ally. “You swear, if I help you, you won’t talk about my sister or rope me in to your stupid rescue plans anymore?” Adaine asks, “And all you want is to know where Riz is going to be today?” 

“I’ve got more important things to do than think about Aelwen right now! The Ball is - well he’s not ignoring me, he has just neglected to talk to me or look at me for a week. I suspect he’s possessed.”

Fabian is sure Adaine didn’t see through his deception roll. And is it even deception? After all, “possessed” could easily be another word for “angry because Fabian kisses too well.” At any rate, Adaine looks like she’s taking him seriously now.

“I’m not sure if I should tell you where Riz is. He’s going through a lot, and I don’t know if you would be helpful right now.”

“Please, Adaine, I just want to talk to him. If he’s still angr- possessed, then I promise I’ll leave- er, have Kristen magically restore him.”

Adaine’s eyes glaze over white—“I’m just going to divine some of the possible outcomes”—and when she comes out of her trance she’s giggling. “Oh, you should definitely try talking to Riz. He’s in the AV club.” She pushes him down the hall and follows, still laughing.

“Ah, The Ball! There you are!” Fabian strides into the AV club with his letterman jacket whipping behind him. Riz is in the room—Fabian breathes a sigh of relief—poking through some disassembled crystal thing for nerds. Unfortunately, Riz isn’t alone. 

Not to worry. Fabian physically lifts a very confused Skrank into the air (“Skrank!”) and sets him down in the hallway next to Adaine. “There you go, bird man. Go, enjoy the outdoors or something. Say hi to your many girlfriends.” Fabian locks the door for good measure.

As he turns back around, Fabian finds that Riz is still frozen in place. This is it, the moment when Fabian can explain everything, make the right grand gesture to put everything back the way it’s supposed to be. 

Wait, no, Riz should be the first one to speak. Fabian makes an entrance, and then Riz makes a plan. That’s how this is supposed to work.

After an awkward silence, where Fabian stares at Riz and Riz stares anywhere but Fabian, he starts to dimly hear voices through the door. (“Fabian, this bird person has summoned me in my role as Vice Principle to get through this locked door. I’m afraid I will injure myself, the way I did last night when I snuck into your kitchen from the garage for some of the barely expired cottage cheese your mother forbid me to eat and I misjudged which direction the fridge door would open...”)

Gilear’s tragic slapstick breaks the tension, as Riz finally makes eye contact with Fabian to share a grin. Fabian can’t believe he’s thinking this, but thank you Gilear! 

Fabian takes a deep breath and plunges into his apology. “I know you must be overwhelmed right now because you made a commitment to Baron, and I - I apologize if I was pushy.” He manages. “You clearly wanted your first time, you know, doing... stuff to be with Baron, and I know that they - They? She? He?” Fabian pauses and looks to Riz for confirmation.

“Yes, he,” Riz nods. “Actually no, not he! Baron isn’t real!”

“What? The Ball...” Fabian is flabbergasted. 

“Baron isn’t real, I made him up, and I’m gay!” Riz blurts out, blushes, and makes an abortive move to hide under a desk.

Fabian somehow wins the initiative roll and lunges forward, catching Riz before he can duck out of sight. 

“I prepared a whole speech!” Fabian laughs incredulously, lifting a squirming Riz onto a desk before he can nimbly escape. “I had a speech, and a dramatic entrance, and - and I sent all those messages, and you’re telling me Baron’s not even real? Why would you invent someone to date?”

“I made up Baron because I was - jealous, I guess, and feeling left out, and - I panicked.“ Riz says, shamefaced.

“Do you have any other dates I should know about? Dune from the Dune Fort? Fal from Fallinel?” Fabian teases, and then says more seriously, “I was about to make this noble gesture where I wish you and Baron the best and - promise not to touch you like this anymore.” He follows words with actions, running his thumb across Riz’s cheek before returning his hand to the desk. It feels good to touch Riz again without worrying about anger or tears or the disapproval of a distant shadowy partner. It could just be the two of them again.

“Did you - did you hear the other part?” Riz asks quietly.

“Hmm? Yes,” Fabian breathes out, preoccupied by the position they’re in. Riz on his back, partly hanging off the desk, and Fabian bending over with his hands on either side of Riz’s head. Not pinning Riz down - not yet - just ready if Riz tried to escape without explaining himself.

“Honestly, I don’t care who you sleep with, The Ball, as long as it’s with me,” Fabian says distractedly, before his brain catches up to his mouth. It feels true as he says it, like the final step in a sequence, locking the rest of the action in place. If Riz is gay, then Fabian is... a pirate. He identifies as pirate. One of those pirates who likes dangerous women and adorable, tenacious, dorky goblin men.

At his words, Riz pushes up to kiss Fabian, wrapping his arms around his neck and nearly unbalancing both of them. “I want all my first time stuff to be with you,” Riz pulls back to say, and then flushes. “Er - I mean - you - don’t have to...”

Riz doesn’t have a chance to keep floundering because Fabian has already committed to the kiss, running his hands up and down Riz’s sides as he leans Riz back onto the desk. He hears Riz yelp as Fabian pushes some nerdy crystal stuff crashing onto the floor (along with an answering squawk and “my final project!” through door), but then Riz is kissing him back desperately, hands clawing at Fabian’s back and body tilted to meet him.

Fabian is going to be more deliberate this time about making Riz come, he resolves around kisses. He reaches down to fumble with Riz’s fly, slides his hands into Riz’s pants to feel - that Riz isn’t even hard yet. Something in Fabian’s disappointed expression makes Riz crack up.

“I wasn’t expecting - I don’t have a hair trigger, you know,“ Riz wheezes. 

“You mean you don’t want me to blow you in the AV club? I thought nerds were into that kind of thing?” Fabian blusters. He’s really not sure what to do now. Should he let go of Riz’s dick? Does he... keep holding it until something happens? Riz is looking at him with wide eyes and Fabian knows he should be doing... something.

He just needs to move lower in the initiative order. Fabian clears his throat. “You’re good at making plans. Why don’t you just - just tell me what you want me to - I need you to be in charge right now.”

Riz nods, reading something in Fabian’s expression that he hadn’t meant to give away. He reaches down to wrap his fingers around Fabian’s wrist and move his hand over to Riz’s hip.

“Touch my - my skin,” Riz says, shivering. “And, can you take off your jacket?”

“Only if you unbutton that waistcoat,” Fabian answers, but his jacket is already on the floor. Riz fumbles with the buttons, as Fabian slides his hand further up and under Riz’s shirt. Riz runs his fingers over Fabian’s shoulders and down his arms. Everything feels quiet. It isn’t quiet—the two of them are breathing heavily, and there are still sounds filtering in from outside the door (“Please stop pecking me—I am trying and failing to pick this lock and I have so few hit points...”)—but in this moment Fabian feels like nothing can reach them.

“You can pull - I mean - put your hand in my hair again?” Riz asks, and Fabian responds to the partially spoken request, gripping Riz’s hair and pulling back until Riz’s breath hitches in his exposed throat.

“Does that hurt?” Fabian worries. 

“No,” Riz gasps out. “Or, yes, a bit, but it feels good. I’m - ah! - I’m ready now, if you want - if you still -“

Fabian definitely still wants. He reaches down again, and this time Riz is hard in his hand. Fabian isn’t sure if he’s gripping or moving correctly, but from Riz’s blissful expression it seems like everything he does is working anyway. When Riz is shaking and thrusting into Fabian’s hand, he bends down and tries to add his mouth, tentatively licking and looking up into Riz’s startled face for guidance. 

Riz comes immediately. So much for not having a hair trigger, Fabian thinks smugly, but he also comes quickly, messily, over his own hand almost as soon as he tastes Riz in his mouth. Would it be weird for Riz if he kissed him right now - after -? Fabian tries anyway, and based on Riz’s pleased hum he must not mind.

After a few minutes of lazily making out—and they really are getting quite good at this kissing thing, Fabian thinks—Riz pushes up from the desk and starts putting his clothes to rights.

“I can wait to leave the room after you, or before, if you want,” Riz says with a strange smile on his face. “No one needs to know, right?”

What? Oh! Fabian recognizes his own words thrown back in his face. He tries to imagine a future where he continues practicing with Riz in secret and ignoring him in public. If Riz feels the same way that Fabian did about being ignored...

“The Ball, do you trust me?” 

Riz nods, confused, and Fabian hoists Riz over one shoulder, opens the door, and strides out into the hallway, accidentally slamming the door into Gilear and Gilear into Skrank as he does. There’s quite a tableau in the hall. Gorgug is holding a struggling Skrank in the air while Adaine, still laughing, explains that she can cast mending on his AV project. Kristen and Fig are healing and consoling Gilear, who seems to have given up and decided to lie face down on the floor. There’s a small crowd of other students gathered to watch the chaos.

Fabian sets Riz down on his feet, reaches down, tilts his head up, and gently kisses him on the lips. 

Fabian can dimly hear people’s reactions. Fig has inspired a handful of confused freshman and Ragh to start a chant of “get your kisses in!” Kristen is trying to explain to a bewildered Gorgug what’s happening (“When one person in your friend group comes out, it’s really likely others will too. My bet is on Fig next, but Tracker thinks Adaine...” “Wait, who’s gay? Am I gay?”). Adaine just smiles, feigning exasperation when anyone looks her direction.

Then a random student—one of the popular crowd—cracks a joke about Riz and backpacks and vomit, and Riz freezes. Fabian pulls back from the kiss, turns around, and punches the student square in the face. “I’m Fabian Aramais Seacaster, son of Bill Seacaster, and if any of you have a problem with my boyfriend, The Ball, you can take it up with me!” Fabian glares at the crowd.

It’s all worth it—the titters, the whispers—to see the surprised joy on Riz’s face. He starts helplessly laughing. “If we’re dating you really shouldn’t call me ‘The Ball’ all the time—it sounds sexual, you know?” Fabian feels nonplused, and Riz takes advantage of his silence and sudden nerves by continuing to tease. “You know, like balls?”

“What else would I call you, The Ball? That’s your name. Its not - its definitely not a sex thing - its like - you’re The Ball because I could dunk you. You’re very dunkable.” 

“That makes it sound even more like a sex thing” Riz snorts. “Hey, Gorgug! What does your sex binder say about ‘dunking’?”

Fabian pulls Riz away as Gorgug looks like he’s about to answer. “We can practice later to figure out what ‘dunking’ could mean for us,” Fabian says softly, looking down at Riz.

Riz just beams back. “Its not practicing if its real.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, and, uh, looks like it’s d&d and tender descriptions of accidental boners. I thought this would be a one-shot, but then Riz panicked and barrel-rolled out of the scene.


End file.
